By Alan J. Heavens INQUIRER REAL ESTATE WRITER Senators reached a compromise today to extend the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, a boost the housing industry expects will help it pull out of its two-year-old downturn. Lawmakers in Washington also added a $6,500 tax credit for other primary-home purchasers and raised the qualifying [...]

Dandelion SaladDemocracy Now! Oct. 21, 2009 photo by Dandelion Salad“Cashing in the War Dividend”: As Healthcare Reform Limited by Deficit Concerns, Military Spending Continues to GrowAs lawmakers hash out the final details of legislation to reform the nation’s healthcare system, one of the key questions is: How much will it all cost, and how will it affect the federal deficit? While $900 billion over ten years may sound like a hefty price tag, it is a mere fraction of this country’s spending on

(wikipedia) Four years ago, a group of lawmakers and aides crafted Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program for seniors that has produced billions of dollars of profits for pharmaceutical companies. Today, at least 25 of those key players are back, but this time they’re lobbyists, trying to persuade their former colleagues to protect the lucrative system during the health care reform negotiations. The role of big players like Billy Tauzin — the former Republican representativ

By Marie Cocco The votes of lawmakers are so routinely purchased by corporations that it takes a scandal of unusual proportions to generate news coverage. READ THE WHOLE ITEM Related Entries October 12, 2009 Why Do Conservatives Hate America? October 12, 2009 Glenn Beck Goes to War October 12, 2009 Summers to Boehner: Stimulus Is Working October 12, 2009 A People’s History of Ironic Prizes October 12, 2009 The Poor Will Have to Wait for Health Care Help

Congressional Leaders Fight Against Posting Bills Online INFOWARS.COM As Congress lurches closer to a decision on an enormous overhaul of the American health care system, pressure is mounting on legislative leaders to make the final bill available online for citizens to read before a vote. Lawmakers were given just hours to examine the $789 billion stimulus plan, sweeping climate change legislation and a $700 billion bailout package before final votes. While most Americans normally igno